Thundermark Hand Made Engraved Slate Rune Plaque with Mjolnir and Full Elder Futhark Ring | 10 by 7 Inch Riven Slate | Solid Walnut Display Base | Norse Home Gift | RK-1714

The Thundermark is an engraved slate plaque carrying a knotwork Mjolnir at its centre inside a complete ring of the twenty four Elder Futhark runes, supplied with a solid walnut base that holds it upright on a shelf, a mantel or a desk. The slate is riven rather than sawn, so the edges keep the natural split face of the stone and no two plaques have the same outline.

The hammer is drawn from the Skane pendant, a small silver Mjolnir found in southern Sweden and dated to around the tenth century, which is the most detailed surviving example we have. Its head is filled with interlace and its haft ends in a stylised animal head with two staring eyes, which is why the top of this design looks like a beast rather than a handle. That is not artistic licence. It is on the original.

Cut, engraved and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. It ships with the walnut base and a felt strip for the shelf.

Specifications

What the ring of runes on this plaque actually says

The ring is the Elder Futhark in its proper order, which is not alphabetical and is not arbitrary. Twenty four runes divided into three groups of eight, each group called an aett. The first aett runs fehu, uruz, thurisaz, ansuz, raido, kaunan, gebo, wunjo. The second begins with hagalaz and the third with tiwaz. We know the order because it was carved out in full on objects that had no other purpose than to record it, most famously the Kylver stone from Gotland, dated to around the year 400, which is a slab of limestone with the whole futhark cut across it in sequence.

That is the important point about this design. It is not a message and it does not spell anything. It is the alphabet itself, laid out as a closed circle in the way Norse and Migration period carvers laid it out, with the hammer of Thor at the centre. If you want the plaque to actually say something, that is what the engraving option is for, and a name or a date set in Elder Futhark can sit below the hammer inside the ring.

The slate and the walnut

Slate is a metamorphic rock, a mudstone squeezed and heated until its clay minerals realign into parallel sheets. That alignment, called slaty cleavage, is why slate splits into flat sheets along one plane and why it has been the roofing and lettering stone of northern Europe for centuries. It takes an engraved line crisply because the stone is fine grained and homogeneous, and the pale grey of a fresh cut against the dark face is what makes the design readable without any paint or fill.

These plaques are riven, meaning split along the cleavage plane rather than sawn to a rectangle. That leaves the natural fracture edge and a face with a slight undulation to it. The base is solid black walnut, planed and grooved on a router to a slot that takes the slate at a slight backward lean, then sanded and finished with a penetrating oil that leaves the grain open. A felt strip on the underside keeps it from marking a shelf.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it.

On this plaque there are two sensible options. A short rune line can be added inside the ring below the hammer, which keeps the futhark ring intact. Or your own design can replace the Mjolnir at the centre entirely. The walnut base can also carry a line of runes along its front edge, which works well for a name and a date on a wedding or memorial piece. See the engraving page.

Mounting and display

The plaque is designed to stand rather than hang. It drops into the groove in the walnut base and leans back a few degrees so the face catches light from above, which is how engraved slate reads best. Put it somewhere with a light source in front of it and slightly high, and the engraved lines will look bright against the dark stone. Put it in flat even light and the design will look shallow.

If you would rather hang it, the plaque can be mounted flat on a wall with a pair of standard slate or picture clips, but it does not come drilled and we do not recommend drilling it yourself because slate splits along its cleavage plane and a badly placed hole will take a corner off. It is a decorative piece. It is not a coaster, a trivet or a cutting surface, and it should not be used as one.

Care

Slate needs almost nothing. Dust it with a dry soft brush or a cloth. If it gets dirty, wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it, and avoid household sprays because many contain acids or waxes that will leave a bloom on the matt face. If the black ever looks tired, a very light wipe of mineral oil on a cloth will deepen it again, but do not soak it.

The walnut base should be dusted and given a wipe of the same oil once or twice a year to keep the grain rich. Keep the whole piece out of direct sun, which will grey the walnut over time. Slate is stone and it is brittle, so the one real risk to this piece is a fall onto a hard floor. Set it back from the edge of a shelf.

Made in Memphis

The slate is sorted and riven, the design is engraved and the walnut base is cut, grooved, sanded and oiled in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and nothing arrives finished with our name added to it. Each plaque is engraved after you order, which is what allows the rune line to be your own.

Current lead time is one to two weeks before it ships, and US shipping is free. Our lifetime warranty against defects in the making applies with no end date and no receipt needed, which on this piece means the engraving and the base joinery rather than accidental breakage.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Slate is a natural stone and every slab differs. The outline changes with the split. The face carries its own ripple and its own scatter of mineral flecks. Colour runs from a soft blue grey through to near black depending on where in the bed the stone came from, and two plaques cut from the same crate will not match.

The walnut varies as much, running from pale tan sapwood to deep chocolate heartwood. What stays the same is the size range, the design, the depth and crispness of the engraving and the way the base is cut. The character is what changes.

Frequently asked questions

Is this display only or can I use it outside

It is a display piece. Slate itself is weatherproof, which is why it is a roofing stone, but the walnut base is not made for outdoor life and will grey and lift if it is rained on. Keep the set indoors or under cover.

Do the runes spell a word

No. The ring is the complete Elder Futhark in its historic order, twenty four runes in three groups of eight. It is the alphabet itself rather than a message. If you want it to say something, add a rune line with the engraving option.

Is the walnut stand included

Yes. The grooved solid walnut base ships with every plaque, along with a felt strip for the underside. The plaque is cut to sit in that base.

Can I hang it on a wall instead

You can, using standard slate or picture clips that grip the edges. It does not come drilled and we would not advise drilling it, because slate splits along its cleavage and a hole in the wrong place takes a corner with it.

Will mine look like the photograph

The design will. The stone will not, exactly. Every slab is riven by hand so the outline, the surface ripple and the shade of grey are different on each one.

How long does shipping take

One to two weeks, because the plaque is engraved and the base is cut after you order. US shipping is free.

What is in the box

• One engraved riven slate plaque with a knotwork Mjolnir and a full Elder Futhark ring
• One solid black walnut display base, grooved to take the plaque
• Felt protection strip for the underside of the base
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the making
• Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the runestones and rune sets, the viking home decor, the engraved and personalised pieces, and the guides for more on the Elder Futhark.